space 15 Facts About Black Holes That'll Blow Your Effing Mind

Black holes are something everyone has heard about, but few actually know anything about. They are like giant invisible blenders lurking in the corners of deep space, sucking in unsuspecting stars and planets and ripping them to shreds. We're only beginning to understand the secrets of deep space and the full capacity of these cosmic death traps.

Black holes are one of the most interesting things about space. Like their event horizon, which is the point of no return situated at their swirling center, black holes are invisible. Nothing can escape their pull - not even light itself. But just because they’re surrounded by mystery doesn’t mean they’re always shrouded in darkness. Some black holes are so luminous they outshine Earth’s sun by the billions.

What is a black hole? Is it a secret doorway into alternate realities? Is it Mother Nature’s time machine? Does it destroy, create, or all of the above? Here are some crazy facts about black holes that will help you put these questions and more into perspective.

Every Black Hole Contains A Universe

If life were a run through Wonderland, the rabbit hole might just be a black hole, and here’s how deep it gets. The theory of quantum gravity seems to suggest every black hole contains a new universe that stretches out beyond our own. This could mean that entering a black hole could be like opening a doorway and stepping into an alternate reality. That is, if you survived going through a black hole.

Our Universe Might Just Exist Inside Of A Black Hole

Scientists have long played with the notion that our universe contains millions of black holes, invisible death traps spiraling around the atmosphere in space. But in modern times, a new concept has unearthed an even more mind-boggling possibility - our universe exists inside of a black hole. This popular theory opens up possibilities for things previously thought fictional, like time travel and parallel worlds, because if a black hole is a doorway rather than a deathtrap, we all stand to enter into a realm where the laws of nature no longer apply.

Black Holes Can Slow Down Time, Hypothetically Making Time Travel Possible

Because black holes are masters of distortion and the universe at large, they don’t obey the natural laws of time. They are surrounded by approximately 15 million miles of darkness and their mass consequently slows down time in a process known as time dilation. This process concludes that traveling faster makes time move slower. Could it be the key to time travel isn’t in an actual vessel but rather through a hole? Stephen Hawking and several other geniuses seem to think so.

They Are Considered The Single Most Deadly Force In The Entire Universe

Black holes don’t just give birth to universes, they also swallow them whole. If one were to come into contact with our planet, all weapons of mass destruction combined would not be able to compete with the phenomenon that would inevitably follow. In fact, literally nothing we’ve ever seen is comparable to the deadly force of a black hole. Upon contact (and by contact we mean coming within about a billion miles of these things) our solar system would simply spin out of control and we would all be ripped to shreds. Scientists call this spaghettification.